A Land without Jasmine -

Wajdi al-Ahdal

Garnet Publishing

2012

94 páginas

3h 8m

ISBN-10: 1859643108

A Land without Jasmine is a sexy, satirical detective story about the sudden disappearance of a young female student from Yemen’s Sanaa University. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, beginning with Jasmine herself. The mystery surrounding her disappearance comes into clearer focus with each self-serving and idiosyncratic account provided by an acquaintance, family member, or detective. The hallucinatory ending, although appropriately foreshadowed, may come as a Sufi surprise for the reader. Less mystically inclined readers may want to reread this tale to construct an alternative ending. This short novel has echoes of both the Sherlock Holmes stories and The Catcher in the Rye as, in addition to the mystery and a murder, the novel contains candid discussions of coming of age in a land of sexual repression. Wajdi al-Ahdal is a satirical author with a fresh and provocative voice and an excellent eye for the telling details of his world.
Source: Amazon.com.br

Resenhas (3)

2 (Razoável)

Jasmine se torna uma mulher e logo sente na pele a agressividade das excessivas regras machistas e das tradições religiosas do Iemen. E quando ela desaparece, testemunhas relatam um ponto de vista a cada capítulo. Meu sentimento foi de indignação: a culpa que recai sobre Jasmine, a vítima, é o fator preponderante.
Falta verossimilhança em alguns pontos do livro, mas a história pode ser uma grande metáfora para um país que está desaparecendo de maneira insana e sacrificando inocentes.

**
Jasmine becomes a woman and soon she experiences firsthand the harshness of Yemen's excessively sexist rules and religious traditions. And when she disappears, witness share their perspectives in each chapter. I felt indignation: the blame placed on Jasmine, the victim, is the predominant factor.
Some points in the book lack verisimilitude, but the story can be a powerful metaphor for a country that is insanely disappearing and sacrificing innocents.